The President should be candidate getting the most votes nationwide ‌ ‌ ‌ For easy sharing - View as Webpage How Filibuster Killed National Popular Vote for President in 1969 With Senate filibusters in the news every day, Jesse Wegman of the New York Times Editorial Board tells how a national popular vote was killed by a filibuster led by Southern segregationists in 1969. Here is part of Wegman's story (read the full column). "In the late 1960s, the country was on the verge of dumping the Electoral College and switching to a national popular vote for president.... "The effort got a last-minute boost from the chaotic 1968 election, in which the segregationist third-party candidate George Wallace nearly deadlocked the race and forced it into the House of Representatives.... "In September 1969, the House voted overwhelmingly, 338 to 70, to approve a constitutional amendment abolishing the Electoral College.... "Senator Birch Bayh of Indiana ... had been pushing for a popular vote since 1966, shortly after the passage of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts had ended the Jim Crow era and pulled America closer than it had ever been to a truly representative democracy. Electing the president directly was the next logical step in that progression.... "The amendment was killed off for good by a filibuster led by three Southerners — Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, Sam Ervin of North Carolina and James Eastland of Mississippi ... All three avowed segregationists.... "As the Southerners were well aware, the Electoral College was a xxxxxx of white supremacy. It protected white dominance throughout the South, where Black voters who were no longer disenfranchised by Jim Crow could still be rendered invisible by state winner-take-all laws. Under these laws, the white majority in states like Alabama, South Carolina and Georgia always got its way. If the nation switched to a popular vote, each Black voter in those states would have just as much say as a white voter in electing the president...." "On Sept. 29, 1970, the Senate voted on whether to end the filibuster and move forward with the amendment. The amendment’s supporters fell five votes short.... Since 1969, there has been no significant movement towards passing a constitutional amendment in Congress. However, as Steve Coll recently said in the New Yorker (full article): "The Electoral College will plunge the country into a constitutional crisis sooner or later. … The most promising current reform proposal is the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. … It is the only plausible path for reform available anytime soon.” The National Popular Vote Compact is state legislation that will guarantee the Presidency to the candidate receiving the most votes nationwide, make every vote equal in presidential elections, make it necessary for candidates to campaign in all 50 states, and ensure that every voter, in every state, will be politically relevant in every presidential election.  What You Can Do LEARN MORE · One-page description of National Popular Vote · Introductory video (8 minutes) · Watch Jesse Wegman, author of Let the People Pick the President · Watch Prof. George Edwards III, author of Why the Electoral College Is Bad for America · Podcast with Jason Harrow, Executive Director of Equal Citizens and National Popular Vote Chair Dr. John Koza · Listen to Open Mind podcast in which Alexander Heffner interviews National Popular Vote Chair Dr. John Koza. Spotify · Watch Michael Steele, former Chair of the Republican National Committee · Watch Rick Tyler, author of Still Right, and Saul Anuzis present the conservative case for electing the President by National Popular Vote · Watch debate at R Street between National Popular Vote's Eileen Reavey and Patrick Rosenstiel and NPV's opponents Tara Ross and Trent England Answers to 131 myths · Watch video of the 270-by-2024 virtual conference, with 16 speakers, hosted by National Popular Vote, FairVote, Common Cause, the League of Women Voters, and Equal Citizens National Popular Vote | Box 1441, Los Altos, CA 94023 Unsubscribe [email protected] Update Profile | Customer Contact Data Notice Sent by [email protected] powered by Try email marketing for free today!